Durbin aims to give Amtrak tools to be on time

Senator sponsors bill allowing Amtrak to sue over freight delays

Sen. Dick Durbin introduced a bill Thursday that would give Amtrak the ability to sue freight-train firms over the right of way on tracks. (One Illinois/Ted Cox)

By Ted Cox

The state’s senior U.S. senator moved Thursday to give Amtrak the tools it needs to improve the rail carrier’s on-time performance.

Only a month ago, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin blamed Canadian National for what he called Amtrak’s “dismal” on-time performance on Illini and Saluki runs between Chicago and Champaign and Carbondale. He charged that Canadian National was giving preference to freight trains on its tracks along that line, in defiance of U.S. regulations stating that passenger trains should have the right of way. He said that caused Amtrak’s “dismal” on-time performance, in which just 6 percent of northbound Illini trains arrived in Chicago within 15 minutes of of their scheduled time, and just 17 percent of southbound Saluki trains arrived in Carbondale on time. Southbound Illini trains to Champaign and northbound Saluki trains to Chicago fared moderately better, but neither achieved an on-time performance of even 50 percent.

So on Thursday Durbin introduced the Rail Passenger Fairness Act, giving Amtrak the tools to improve its on-time record. According to a news release from the senator’s office, the bill gives Amtrak the ability to “take the freight railroads to court in order to enforce current law.”

“This bill provides Amtrak with the power to improve its passenger rail service and efficiency,” Durbin said in a statement. “By empowering Amtrak to hold the freight railroads accountable when they don’t follow the law, we can improve Amtrak on-time performance and save taxpayer dollars. For too long, we’ve seen on-time performance decline as a result of freight interference. The people of Illinois — and Amtrak riders nationwide — deserve assurance that they can arrive at their destination in a safe and timely manner.”

Amtrak welcomed the legislation.

“Some railroads over which Amtrak operates have ignored the passenger preference law for far too long, delaying our customers by more than 1 million minutes last year,” said Amtrak President Richard Anderson. He thanked Durbin for submitting the bill, calling it “a critical piece of legislation.” Declaring that Amtrak would lobby for its passage, he added, “This bill puts people first and helps us get our customers where they want to go on time.”

Durbin has previously blamed Amtrak’s inability to maintain a prompt schedule going in and out of Carbondale as one reason enrollment continues to decline at Southern Illinois University’s flagship campus.

Thursday’s release blamed freight-train delays for roughly 60 percent of Amtrak’s late arrivals nationwide and emphasized it was costing not just time, but money, calling it “a key factor driving Amtrak’s operating loss of $171 million” last year. It added that a federal report issued last month, which Durbin cited, “also found that improving and maintaining on-time performance on all Amtrak routes, particularly on long-distance lines, would result in $41.9 million in annual cost savings and revenues, plus an estimated $336M in equipment savings.”